Is this tone even possible?

[BobDeRosa]

I am going to go ever so slightly out on a limb here and suggest that since he is using some flavor of Jazz, it can be done with your Jazz.

I think he has round wound strings.
Highs cut enough not to have string or fret noise.
Lows cut enough to not have mud.
Amp with lots of head room.

Things to consider when chasing someone else's sound are that it probably took him years to get there.
He may have started off trying for something else when he found that.
No matter who you are or how much you try to get someone else's sound, in the end you will always sound a lot like you.
That might be a good thing.

Don't get too carried away with thinking you just need to spend enough money to get the 'right' gear.
Sometimes that can help a lot.
Sometimes it's more in the hands and imagination.

Beautifully stated! We spend way too much time trying to buy a sound/tone and far too little trying to develop it using our available resources. Practicing is rarely as much fun as shopping.

 

[brushfirewolf]

Have you tried a stingray? I feel like I can achieve a very similar tone with mine and lots of compression.

edit: the fingerstyle/over the bridge pup tone obviously. Not sure about the slap tone.

 

[phillipkregg]

If you can find an eq pedal or onboard preamp with mid-boost along with sweepable mids (you can probably do this on some amps too), then you can get 10% of this tone.

The rest of it is just his touch and playing ability.

 

[logdrum]

He looks like a younger @Dr. Cheese That is probably the reason for the tone If he did not have taste and perfect timing, his bass lines will be called overplaying. It's the melodic lines executed with precision with a little grease rather than the tone that captivated me.

If you can play like that, the bass or pickups doesn't really matter that much

 

[Ryno1330]

Have you tried a stingray? I feel like I can achieve a very similar tone with mine and lots of compression.

edit: the fingerstyle/over the bridge pup tone obviously. Not sure about the slap tone.

Agreed - it reminds me of the Fender version of a non-aggressive Ray tone. Just for kicks I just checked if I could get close with the middle pickup on my Dingwall with the mids adjusted accordingly and was also able to.

 

[Dr. Cheese]

He looks like a younger @Dr. Cheese That is probably the reason for the tone If he did not have taste and perfect timing, his bass lines will be called overplaying. It's the melodic lines executed with precision with a little grease rather than the tone that captivated me.

If you can play like that, the bass or pickups doesn't really matter that much

The young fellow is a truly great player. He might not like being compared to a hack like me.

 

[DrMole]

The young fellow is a truly great player. He might not like being compared to a hack like me.

Should I ever post my own playing- that would be an honor.

 

[stuntbass77]

I hear a really good player with a maple fretboard Jazz ( possibly active but not necessarily ). I hear mids and some compression. I agree with most that any jazz bass with the right touch ( aka player ) and some tweaking of the pickups or eq can achieve this tone. You can get there it will just take working on dialing it in. Jaco said he ran just straight into the board but as much as I love jack I think at times he could be full of it and slick . I’m sure in this case the play is telling the truth but keep in mind the quality of interface and DAW make landfall a big difference. I cannot achieve the exact same tone through my amp as I do going through my interface and DAW or vice versa. Everyone’s finger are a little different, some meaty and some boney which is where playing over the pickup in the right spot and dialing in the eq comes into play. Don’t go buying a pile of different jazz basses to cop this tone. I love watching Joe Dart play his MIM jazz l. So many people say that you can only cop a MIA Jazz on a MIA Jazz when the MIM and MIJ’s are closer in build specs to a 60’s Jazz ( you know the jazz tone almost everyone wants ). I personally am not the best player but I can almost alway hear the difference between a maple board and a rosewood but only if the bass is turned up really high in the mix otherwise it’s hard to tell. Don’t give up !

 

[brushfirewolf]

This reminds me of a few years ago when my main bass was a american fender jazz and I was chasing a very similar tone that a passive jazz just did not give me. I tried a few G&Ls (kiloton and l2000), a sire V7, a deluxe fender jazz, and a few other I can't remember. Eventually I decided to try out a stingray and fell in love. I've been happy to call a stingray my main bass ever since.

I should mention that 90% of the time I'm playing into a interface connected to my computer and through a set of decent speakers. I also use my iPad as an interface a fair amount which can actually give me great tone with all the amp emulation and effect options.

 

[basebasser]

The man himself has a video about "tone".

 

[TJL]

Easy, you have virtually the same bass minus the 5th string. Because you are not active, you may lose some similarity in tone on the slap section, but your Fender will do it. Now all YOU have to do is spend the next 12 years playing at the First AME Church with great songs and arrangements to get your groove on. By the end of that, your bass will be working.

 

[Gusdfunk]

My WAG:
- definitely need compression but not loads of it, slow attack, fast release, maybe just 4:1 on the ratio.
- the hottest overwound aftermarket jazz bass pickups you can find (eg. Aguilar AG-HOT, etc).
- good worn in (i.e. dead) round wound strings.
- pluck right over the bridge PU like this player.
- neck pickup turned down about 1/3.
- straight into the board with a good DI.

Otherwise, to get milk chocolate like that on the tone, you'll need an amp sim of some sort to give the distortion on the notes. I don't think it's the bass.

L

What he said... plus a little post production mixing/tweaking.

 

[armelind]

My WAG:
- definitely need compression but not loads of it, slow attack, fast release, maybe just 4:1 on the ratio.
- the hottest overwound aftermarket jazz bass pickups you can find (eg. Aguilar AG-HOT, etc).
- good worn in (i.e. dead) round wound strings.
- pluck right over the bridge PU like this player.
- neck pickup turned down about 1/3.
- straight into the board with a good DI.

Otherwise, to get milk chocolate like that on the tone, you'll need an amp sim of some sort to give the distortion on the notes. I don't think it's the bass.

L

Compression was gonna be my first suggestion but I decided to read on. I also agree with your 3rd & 4th suggestion.

 

[DanGR]

Is it possible to get the tone from this Youtube video with either of my basses?

I have a passive Fender Jazz (all stock) and an active Schecter SLS Elite.

I've been trying everything I can think of and Im ready to sell my basses and buy a Bass Mods bass if thats what it takes because that tone is like the holy grail for me.

I used to think you might be able to get any tone with the right effects....I do hear a very slight octave thing as well as low mids boosted for punch. Then I caught a super deal on a used G&L L2500. Out of all of the 40+ basses I've owned, including two Alembics, this G&L has the deepest, sweetest natural tone I've ever had. It weighs a ton, but wow....you might be able to get somewhat close, but there's nothing like the real thing.

 

[jetgraphics]

If I am not tone deaf it sounds remarkably close to Sharay Reed's tone - - - Jazz five string, too.

 

[Joe Bob]

Sorry so late to this thread but ... While his tone is excellent, his timing and phrasing are phantabulous! Who cares about tone when you can play like that?

Just kidding, but once in a while a thought like that crosses my mind ;--)

 

[Joe Bob]

Love the "4 ways ..." video. I think most players do these things, to some degree, in their own way.

As a rock player, when playing with a pick, I often find myself palm muting just to keep the sound reined in, e.g. during the verse. Lift your palm for the chorus. Usually happens by itself without any conscious thought ...

I worked out the technique on the guitar, but quickly palming the pick and switching to fingers or thumb (and back) on the fly is a great option. Again, typically this happens naturally, e.g. on a song transition.

Been using D'Addario half-rounds for a few decades after I noticed round wounds were chewing frets on my nice old '72 p-bass. But they do tame the very brightest overtones some as well as reduce finger noise. All of which I like. Nothing like Mr. Dykes' sound, but some similar techniques.

 

[Rezdog]

Greetings from the North,

That drummer is just killin it! A whole lotta fun!

Rezdog

 

[Funky Phantom]

If I am not tone deaf it sounds remarkably close to Sharay Reed's tone - - - Jazz five string, too.

That...was.....funky.
Soul for days. For those of you who ain’t got your soul together......
You better come here and sit down!

 

[xtremebassist1]

The main factor I hear is the finesse in his technique. Probably some DAW tweaking but you can see in the video the sound is truly coming from an active Jazz bass and his hands. To practice such I would recommend:

His pluck hand technique is on the lighter side. You will need a "hot" signal which you can achieve by turning up the volume. Then with a metronome, practice starting with the softly touching the strings and slowing increasing to plucking them hard like an upright player. Then decrease slowing back to a soft touch. You will eventually start to find that sweet but softer tone spot where it is more tone than string noise. The less aggressive attack will reduce string noise and muting requirements. Too light and you lose too much richness of tone.

With your fretting hand you want to fret a single note and then slowly decrease the pressure going thru the fret buzz to a full muted note. Then reverse until you are squeezing rather hard, again with a metronome. After while like with the pluck technique, you will find that sweet by light pressure point that is more tone and no fret buzz. This touch will also help reduce overall string noise with position shifts and muting.

Finally, the real genius of his playing is his groove. He is ever so slightly laying back on the groove to roll off the attack and give that warm bass sound. Why you can hear the fingernail noise but not a super attack bite. You will need to imagine time as round dot where you can get little to left or right of the center without dragging or rushing the tempo. I recommend practicing with a bass drum that has a slight click attack. If you start laying back you will hear your sound getting deeper similar to reggae. If you start getting on the top of the beat, your tone will get brighter, thinner and more cutting. You can record the bass drum and your bass on separate tracks and ever so slightly push or pull one. It is real subtle but if then solo your track you will really hear how you can shape your tone with your timing. With a good drummer, I used this to shape my tone live all the time especially with old beat up strings. You should see his time is really impeccable by laying back every so slight during groove parts and then being spot on slapping & sustain notes and pushing just a bit on the licks to get them to cut. No way you could sample his sound and sequence it to perfect time to get that tone.

Like previously mentioned, give him any bass & rig and you will still hear his tone.